Are there any 'Polaroid like' positive alternatives for 8x10 or larger?

[mdm]

Harman Direct Positive Paper available from harmanexpress.com

I have some in 5x7 and it will fit in certain plastic 5x7 holders. Not newer plastic, not wood. 13x18cm holders would be ideal. It is available in many sizes.

ISO 4 or 2 and very contrasty. I have not had much luck but I am useless at the moment so cant blame the paper.

Could be a great time saver. A few minutes in a standard paper developer and fixer and Bobs your uncle.


I have just developed 2 pictures I took yesterday. IMHO it is too contrasty for general use without preflashing using the method described in the fact sheet on ilfordphoto.com which dramatically reduces the convenience factor. When they are dry I may scan em and post.

[JohnJ]

Thanks folks. Yes, I would have preferred that there was still some version of the old Polaroid, or that a new one had been released but that seems not to be. I don’t really want a wet process but if that’s the only option then so be it.

Based on comments in various other threads it seems that the positive papers are too contrasty for normal use however, but still worthy of experimentation.

JJ

[Sascha Welter]

Pre-Flashing the positive paper and then throwing them into a one-bath "fixating developer"?? (Just wildly tossing ideas around...)

[al olson]

Color transparencies -- "one off", and send them off to be processed. Almost as easy as Polaroids, and probable about the same costs (just a guess).

Display in light boxes/frames, perhaps? Plus you have the ability to make high-quality copies (scanning the transparency).

I have done transparencies, matted them, and put them in a frame. I place a "dust cover" of frosted mylar over the back and then hang them in the window.

One problem ... they do fade over time.

[Vaughn]

I have done transparencies, matted them, and put them in a frame. I place a "dust cover" of frosted mylar over the back and then hang them in the window.

One problem ... they do fade over time.

Yeah, all that UV light is hard on just about everything.

[Daniel_Buck]

ISO 4 or 2 and very contrasty. I have not had much luck but I am useless at the moment so cant blame the paper.

Indeed, very fun and a nice "one off" factor, but the contrast is so high! I've still not had much time to experiment with ways of reducing the contrast. if you are in a low contrast situation and you meter it just right, you can get some very interesting results!

[Mark Sawyer]

There's always tintypes and ambrotypes...

[mdm]

There is a thread on this on apug. You can preflash using some sort of a diffuser in front of the lens, a zone 2 or 3 exposure, which simplifies things. See 'The Negative' on how to do this. Seems it likes long exposures over 1 second. They have changed the size they cut to standard sheet film sizes rather than the paper sizes they were cutting to. There is someone doing really good stuff with pinhole cameras and no preflashing.

I am going to have a try using a sheet or 2 of yupo one end of a tube as the diffuser.

[Cor]

About 15 years ago we got our portrait taken by a street photographer in Jaipur, India. He first made a negative on B&W photo paper, and copied/reproduced 1:1 that again with the same "camera" (which doubled as a darkbox) on B&W photo paper.

See attached images to get the idea.

Best,

Cor

[Vaughn]

About 15 years ago we got our portrait taken by a street photographer in Jaipur, India. He first made a negative on B&W photo paper, and copied/reproduced 1:1 that again with the same "camera" (which doubled as a darkbox) on B&W photo paper.

See attached images to get the idea.

Best,

Cor

The street photographers in Cuba can do the same, but can put Che in your photo, too!